Wire bracket



March 21, 1939. o. F. TALLMAN WIRE BRACKET Filed July 22, 1937 M eM mu. A af. MF M x 0 A Trae ne y PatentedManZLlQSQ' l UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFF-ICE einem:v

Oscar?. Tallniainst.

Louis, Mo., aligner to James B. Kearney Corporation, St. Louis,

acorporationolllinouri This invention relates generally to brackets for holding and supporting electrical wires, and more specincally tdwire brackets oi' the type known as house brackets, the predominant object of the invention being to provide anl improved wire bracket of this type which includes a wood screw for securing the bracket to a wall or other part 'of a building or` other structure, which wood screw is attached to a yieldable part oi the bracket structure so that the body portion of the bracket may be screwed into ilat contact with a support therefor, even though the wood screw is screwed into the support at an angle to its proper position. l5 Prior to this invention most house brackets oi the type to which this invention relates were provided with wood screws for securing the brackets to walls and other parts of buildings and other structures which were rigidly and non-movably 2o ilxed to the insulating body portions of the brackets. Wiremen apply brackets of this type to supporting structures by grasping the insulating body portions oi the brackets and jamming the points of the wood screws into the supporting structures, -aiter which the brackets are rotated to screw the wood screws into the structures until the iaces at the base portions of the insulating body portions contact with the supporting structures. Due to this method oi applying the brackets to supporting structures. the wood screws quite frequently are screwed into the structures at angles to their desired course, and when the wood screws are rigidly and non-movably fixed to the insulating body portions of the brackets, as was usually the case prior to this invention, such angular introduction of the wood screws into the supporting structures prevents the base portions of the insulating bodyportions of the brackets from being brought into flat contact with the faces of the supporting structures to which the brackets are applied.

The improved bracket disclosed herein eliminates the disadvantages mentioned above, inasmuch as the wood screw of the improved bracket is ilxed to a part of the bracket which is iiexible and capable of distortion. This arrangement provides for relative movement between the wood screw and the remainder of the bracket, and, therefore, if the wood screw of the bracket is introduced into the supporting structure at an angle to its desired, straight course, the remainder oi the bracket which includes the insulating wire receiving element thereof may nevertheless be screwed into flat contact with the supporting structure.

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the improved wire bracket.'

Pig. 2 is a plan view of the wire bracket illustrated in F18. 1. Y

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of the bracket 5 illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing the improved wire bracket as it appears when the wood screw thereof is being 1o introduced into a supporting structure at an angle to its desired course. l

Fig. 6 illustrates the wire bracket shown in Fig. 5 as it appears when the bracket has been brought into iiat contact with the supporting lo structure in spite of the angular introduction of the wood screw into the supporting structure.

In the drawing, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, one embodiment oi' the invention, A designates the improved wire 20 bracket generally. The wire bracket A includes a bracket element I formed preferablygoi' sheet metal which is provided with a circular base portion 2, said circular base portion havinga projected circular, marginal bead 3 which is adapted 25 in the use oi' the wire bracket A to be drawn into ilat contact with a support to which the wire bracket is attached as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the support is designated by the reference character S. The circular base portion of the wire 30 bracket is provided. with an annular ilange I which is a projected continuation of the outer portionl of the bead 3, and extended from said flange are opposed, spaced apart legs 5. The portions oi the legs li located adjacent to the circular 35 base 2 are provided with strengthening ribs 8 pressed therein which extend longitudinally oi the legs and impart to the legs the desired rigidity.

Adjacent to the outer ends of the legs 5 alined 40 apertures 5' are formed therein and-interposed between said legs is an insulating element "I,4 formed oi porcelain or other suitable electrical insulating material, which receives in engagement therewith the electrical conductor support- 45 ed by the wire bracket. While the insulating element 1 may be oi any desired shape the one illustrated in the drawing is of circular cross-sectional shape and is provided with an annular, wire-receiving groove l'I'. and said insulating ele- 50 ment has formed therethrough an opening 8. 'I'he insulating element is secured to the bracket element I by means of a tube 9 which extends through the apertures 5' of the legs 5 and through the opening 8 of the insulating element 1, the 55 opposite end portions of said tube being expanded as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6 to'prevent accidental displacement of the tube from its position ln the bracket assembly.

The base portion of the bracket element I lncludes as a part thereof a circular plate portion Il to which is attached a wood screw II. 'I'he wood screw ls provided with a head portioni! and the portion I3 of the shank of the wood screw which is located immediately adjacent to said head portion is of non-circular shape. `The non-circular portion Il of the shank of the wood screw 1s disposed in an opening I4 formed through the plate portion IIl of the bracket element I which is of corresponding non-circular shape. and in order'to secure the wood screw to the bracket element I a portion of the shank of said wood screw is upset by a riveting action to provide a flange I5 that contacts with the face of the plate portion I0 of the bracketelement -opposlte to that face of said plate portion with ly bring one side of the base portion of the wire bracket into contact with the face of the support and the opposite side of said base portion out of contact with said face of the support as shown in Fig. 5 wherein the support is designated by the reference character S. In such a situation a wire bracket of the type heretofore extensively used would either have to be removed when its wood screw had been extended intothe support at an angle. or the wire bracket would be permitted to remain in attachment with the support in its crooked condition. A

If, ln the use ofthe improved wire bracket disclosed herein, however, the wood screw is introduced into the support at an angie, the wire bracket is rotated Just as if the wood screw had been properly introduced in place in the support. When one side of the base portion of the improperly applied wire bracket contacts with the tace of the support as shown in Fig. 5 the rotation of the wire bracket is continued and because the metal of the circular plate portion I0 of the bracket element I possesses flexibility,

said plate portion will be distorted and the entire bead 3 of the base portion of the wire bracket will be brought into contact throughout its entire length with the face of the support as shown in Fig. 6. The importance o! the bead 3 is that it provides the bracket element i with a strengthened marginal portion at the base portion thereof which is not distorted when the circular plate portion vII) oi the element I is distorted because the screw I I is improperly inserted into a support as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. If the bead were not present in the structure the entire base portion of the bracket element I would be distorted by angular insertion of the s'crew Il into a support and this misshapened base portion would prevent the desired llat contact of the element I of the wire bracket with the support.

An important feature of the invention is that the improved wire bracket is so constructed and arranged that even though the insulating element I is broken, as frequently happens in the use of devices o! this general type, the attached Wire will not drop to the ground, as thc wire will still be engaged by the tube 9. Also in rotating the improved wire bracket when the wood screw thereof is being screwed in a support, the shank of a screwdriver or other suitable tool may bc passed into the tube S and the bracket rotated thereby without applying strains to the insulat ing element which might break the insulator.

I claim:

1. A wire bracket comprising a base portion, an insulating element supported by said base portion, and a screw for attaching the wire bracket to a support, said base portion including a flexible portion to which said screw is rigidly fixed so as to permit the axis of the screw to move out oi alinement with respect to the axis of the wire bracket.

2. A wire bracket comprising a base portion, an insulating element supported by said base portion, and a screw for attaching the wire bracket to a support, said base portion including a flexible portion, and an outstanding bead formed on said base portion and adapted to contact with the support to which the wire bracket is attached so as to space said flexible portion from said support to permit flexing of said flexible portion, said screw being rigidly xed to the said flexible portion of said base portion whereby said screw may be moved out of its normal position with a consequent distortion of said flexible portion of the base portion.

OSCAR F. TAILMAN. 

